“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.” - George W. Bush

Saturday, October 18, 2014

ISIS in Hell

This next video is in German. She is saying that ISIS was taking over but now the Kurdish fighters pushed back the jihadists aided by air power All the attacks are against ISIS. The tank is an ISIS tank trying to get out of Dodge.

Syria

Kurdish official: ISIS and their flag gone from Kobane

“YPG fighters are now searching the homes for bombs and explosives that the Islamist militants might have left behind,” Photo: AFP

KOBANE—Islamist militants have been pushed out of Kobane and fighters of the Peoples Protection Units (YPG) are now in control of the town, a Kurdish official in Kobane told Rudaw.“There is no ISIS in Kobane now,” said Omar Alush, co-chair of the TEV-DEM movement in Kobane.Alush said that following the recent air strikes on positions of the Islamic State (IS) militants in Kobane, the YPG managed to drive the rest of the jihadis out of town and that they are now in control.“YPG fighters are now searching the homes for bombs and explosives that the Islamist militants might have left behind,” said Alush.IS militants laid siege to the Kurdish town of Kobane on the Turkish-Syrian border last month, pounding the town with heavy artillery and tanks.With support from US air strikes, the YPG held the town and eventually managed to turn the tide against the IS.“Kobane is quiet now and the flag of ISIS is gone,” Alush maintained.Alush said that the jihadis still hold Kani Arab and Gire Mishtanur, close to Kobane.“Fighting is still going on between the ISIS and YPG on the eastern outskirts of the town,” he said.Alush said that the air strikes were effective in pushing back the militants, however, he said, the coalition forces should cut off the ISIS supply route from other parts of Syria “because we have information that the group is preparing for another assault on Kobane.”

The head of U.S. troops in the Middle East said on Friday Iraqi forces are "incrementally" recapturing ground from ISIL militants who seized much of the country's northwest this year, but he added that major Iraq advances will take time.

"They are doing some things now to incrementally recapture ground that's been lost," General Lloyd Austin, head of U.S. Central Command, said in his first news conference about the conflict. He cited the Kurdish operation around Mosul Dam and their recapture of the border post of Rabia.

Austin said U.S.-led air strikes against ISIL militants in Iraq and Syria were having an impact on the group, hampering their ability to travel in large convoys and gather en masse to carry out attacks.

The Army general said the main U.S. focus was to "defeat and ultimately destroy" the ISIL militant group by providing support to the Iraqi government and military.

He said the United States had intensified air strikes around the Syrian town of Kobani because an ISIL offensive there had provided more targets to attack.

"In my assessment, the enemy has made a decision to make Kobani his main effort," Austin said, noting that it had continued to pour fighters into the town in recent days. "If he continues to present us with major targets, as he has done in the Kobani area, then clearly we'll service those targets."

October 18, 2014Coalition air strikes may be helping to turn the tide in KobaniBy Rick Moran

Thanks to the Kurds spirited defense of their town, and more intense air strikes being delivered by coalition forces, the battle for Kobani has slowly turned in favor of the defenders.

Islamic State forces still surround the Syrian border town, but they have been pushed back in some areas, and have failed to deliver a decisive blow that would allow them to take control of the city.

Adam Chandler writing in The Atlantic:

Less than two weeks ago, the newly announced American-led airstrikes against ISIS already appeared destined to fail. ​An Islamic State siege of the Syrian town of Kobani was about to give way to a massacre of Syrian Kurds providing early and salient proof of the airstrikes' fruitlessness. Then, something strange happened, the massacre never came.

The month-long battle for Kobani is by no means over and the death toll is by no means small, but for those administration officials beseeching the American public for both faith and patience, the past few days have given some provided some breathing room. As Reuters notes, coalition airstrikes surged on Wednesday and Thursday to the tune of 14 raids, which are said to have halted the Islamic State advance. Meanwhile, Kurdish forces have turned back some ISIS gains in the town.

On Friday, Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, who heads the Central Command, told the press that "the campaign is on the right track" and reiterated the need for "strategic patience." He also admitted that it still remains "highly possible that Kobani may fall" to the Islamic State militants.

As Helene Cooper noted, the efficacy and new intensity of the strikes may have been helped by "a little-known new system where Syrian Kurdish fighters fed target information to allied war planners." As we noted on Thursday, the State Department announced that the United States held its first direct talks with a Syrian Kurdish party in Paris last week. While the State Department played the meeting down, perhaps we now have a better idea about what they were discussing.

IS is unable to mass its forces for an attack that would overwhelm the Kurdish defenders thanks to some well coordinated strikes by US planes. But Islamic State is not likely to give up on taking the town, considering how much in men and material they have invested in its capture. It would be a huge propaganda loss for them if they were forced to withdraw. It would also raise the morale of Iraqi troops who are being squeezed in Anbar province and outside of Baghdad.

But IS is still making gains in both Iraq and Syria. The coalition planes can't strike everywhere Islamic State is on the move which is why, as long as there are no supporting infantry to push back against IS, our air campaign will be ineffective in stopping the terrorists.

Is it a bird, is it a plane? No - it's a mystery man flying past an Airbus full of passengers as it flew over Macclesfield at 3,500ft

Pilots of Airbus 320 left stunned when a 'flying man' passed their aircraft The man flew within 100 metres of the plane as it made its descent into Manchester Airport There was no sign of him on the radar and neither pilot could see a canopy suspending him The official report in to the incident said it was 'frustrating' they could not corroborate what happened

When criticizing Israel, it is important to distinguish between the government (which does not represent Israel fully and accurately) and the people. Most Israelis might feel that the food costs are more urgent to solve, they might feel that peace is not within reach, but one thing is indisputable -- their hope for life of genuine peace.

In order to promote a future peace agreement, all of us have some obligations to fulfill: we -- the Israelis -- must replace this government with a better one, one that will work on the important challenges Israel's facing and not just on those which may seem more urgent and more influencing on the daily lives. The Israeli sane majority must carry more weight in politics and policy making, and not let the extremists lead the country towards a messianic vision.

PA Chairman further derides Jews, less than 24 hours after calling to stop Jewish access to Temple Mount 'by all means.'

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman called Jews visiting the Temple Mount a "herd of cattle" on Saturday, less than 24 hours after he incited violence against Jews visiting Judaism's holiest site and called to prevent their access "by all means."

"The Palestinian leadership will be taking the necessary legal measures, at the international level, regarding the aggression of settlers on the Al-Aqsa mosque," Abbas said in a speech to the Revolutionary Council of his Fatah party.

"We will not allow settlers to attack the mosque," he added, referring to Jews visiting the site as a "herd of cattle."

On Saturday, Abbas called all Israelis "settlers" for visiting the site, which is besieged by Arab rioters who have forced Israel's police to close the Mount to Jews over the past several weeks on multiple occasions.

"It is not enough to say the settlers came, but they must be barred from entering the compound by any means. This is our Aqsa... and they have no right to enter it and desecrate it," Abbas said.

The Chairman's words have already evoked outrage from Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu), who called Abbas an "anti-Semite" on Saturday night.

"These words reveal, again, the true face of Mahmoud Abbas, the Holocaust denier who talks about a 'Palestinian state free of Jews,'" the Foreign Minister fired.

Abbas "was, and remains, an anti-Semite wrapped in a nice suit and pleasantries for the international community," he added, accusing the Chairman further of "stirring up incitement against Israel and Jews and calling for a religious war."

What is wrong with "Herd of Cattle".a number of animals feeding, traveling, or kept together; drove; flock: a herd of zebras; a herd of sheep; a herd of cattle. 2. a large group of people; crowd; mob: a herd of autograph seekers. 3. a large group of things.

said Father Alejandro Solalinde Guerra, the internationally known human rights champion. He himself has been threaten, kidnapped and beaten because of his refusal to stay away from the business of organized crime. He was in exile due to death threats.

In an interview this week he said;

"From Sunday to today, I have had several meetings with witnesses, eyewitnesses, who suffered in the first and second attack, students, but there are other sources, who are not students that speak of a time before. They talk about that some were wounded, and they burned alive, ignited after pouring diesel on them. Others they were incinerated in a wood fire, some alive, some dead."

"The first meeting I was given information directly, that was on Sunday. The second one I had yesterday in Mexico City. The first thing I learned is that there are witnesses, but are afraid to speak, if they talk, they fear they will be killed. "said the priest.

“Our understanding is that people who are coming to claim refugee status are not being permitted to enter in the way that they were previously,” she told AFP.

“What we’ve seen over the last two to three weeks is that there are greater restrictions ... We’ve seen that there are fewer people approaching us for registration which is also indicative of tightening of the border.”

A Palestinian from the Gaza Strip has reportedly died fighting for the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) in Syria. Amer Abu Ghoula is said to have died during clashes with Hezbollah and the Syrian army near Aleppo.

Amer Abu Ghoula was originally from Nuseirat in central Gaza, according to Al Quds.

Vocativ reported last month on ISIS’ evolving presence in Sinai and the Gaza Strip, and groups from that area have expressed their philosophical support for ISIS since early 2014. Palestinian refugees (500,000 of whom were living in Syria when the conflict there erupted) were drawn into Syria’s conflict early on, but it now appears that groups that have pledged loyalty to ISIS leader Al-Baghdadi are sending representatives into the heart of the ISIS battlefield, and individual Gazans are also joining the fight of their own volition.

Among those Gazans known to have died in battle with ISIS are a number who hail from Rafah, Nuseirat and Jabalia and have fallen in Homs and Aleppo in Syria and Samara in Iraq.

According to ISIS forums and official social media accounts, two of the Gazans who have been killed in action recently were from Sinai-based Ansar Beit al-Maqdis and Ansar al-Dawla al-Islamia. The men had traveled to Iraq as “official representatives” of those groups to fight in Syria alongside ISIS.

October 19, 2014Ebola and the Centers for Dissimulation and ConfusionBy G. Wesley Clark, MD

The first thing to understand about Ebola is that we don't understand very much about Ebola. The virus was first identified in 1976 in the blood of a Belgian nun who died of the disease, and whose job was, incidentally, giving injections to pregnant native women in the Congo, thus spreading the disease and death to many others. Since then, sporadic small outbreaks have occurred, but active research has been sparse and desultory, complicated by the extreme hazard that a virus preparation represents, and the expensive and rigorous conditions required to study it.

The initial human infection with Ebola occurs when a human contacts the virus in nature, either by contact with the host organism, fruit bats, or by touching or ingesting contaminated meat. Unfortunately, many old buildings in Africa are infested with bats, and it also turns out that bat soup is considered a delicacy by some. Bushmeat, the meat of wild animals hunted and sold, is also a potential source of infection. In past times, Ebola might wipe out a small village and disappear. With rapid population growth and urbanization in Africa, the potential for a massive epidemic grew – and has now been realized.

The first cases in the current Ebola epidemic occurred in an area of Guinea (Guekedou) near the borders with Sierra Leone and Liberia. Subsequently, the epidemic has spread across those borders and throughout those three countries, due to movement of infected persons. Cultural practices, including families washing the bodies of the dead, and travel for burial in their home villages, have contributed to the spread of the epidemic, which now has infected several thousand persons.

Thus, travel of infected persons, as well as transport of bodies, has spread the epidemic to large areas, rapidly. In this connection, it is noteworthy that the index case in the United States was a traveler from Liberia who had known he was at risk, and that the two subsequent cases included one person who traveled from Dallas to Cleveland and back, thus exposing up to 800 other persons. And a third Duncan contact has just turned up on a cruise ship in the Caribbean.

The maximum incubation period is 21 days. False. The 21-day period represents a statistical boundary during which 95% of infections will be detected. Actual occurrences of infection have been observed at over 40 days (twice the 21-day interval) after initial exposure.

If you don't develop symptoms, you are not infected. False. A study of close contacts of infected persons, reported in Lancet in 2000, demonstrated antibodies to the Ebola virus in 11 of 24 (46%). This is an indication that either a) these persons had become infected, but their bodies resisted development of the disease, while developing immunity, or b) these persons already had immunity from a prior encounter with the virus. There is unfortunately no information on whether an infected but asymptomatic person can be contagiously shedding virus to others. Neither is there any information whether some persons can become asymptomatic "carriers" for an extended period. We do know that the carrier state occurs in the natural host organism, fruit bats.

Ebola virus is present only in bodily fluids. False. Viable and infectious Ebola virus may persist on surfaces, depending upon temperature, humidity, and pH, for up to 2 days (according to a specific CDC response to my inquiry). Some speculation exists even for persistence for up to 6 days, which poses a real challenge for the airlines transporting infected persons.

Voluntary quarantines don't work very well. True. This has certainly been true in the U.S. experience. The family of Duncan left their apartment several times, including sending their children to school. A nurse with exposure flew to Cleveland and back, and a physician, Nancy Snyderman, broke quarantine to fetch a supply of her favorite soup!

Dogs can catch Ebola. True. Dogs that have been exposed to Ebola virus can become infected but usually do not become ill. A study of dogs exposed in Africa showed a high rate of antibodies to the virus, indicative of past infection. None of the animals studied carried the live virus, but a recently infected dog may shed the virus in bodily fluids, and a long-term carrier state has not been ruled out by current research. Primates such as gorillas, chimpanzees, and monkeys may become infected, but with a high rate of lethality.

Currently, the risk to United States residents (who don't travel to epidemic areas) is vanishingly small, and not deserving of any concern for individual personal safety. The crisis mentality that has evolved has been entirely the consequence of the stupefying ineptitude of the CDC, the real absence of any knowledge or preparation of tertiary medical facilities, and the absence of intelligent and informed leadership, combined with the arrogant political pontifications of our noble leader. Just today, the appointment of an "Ebola czar" was announced, a role to be undertaken by a blatantly political operative with no medical knowledge. What could go wrong?

A "normal" school is a college, usually a 2 year college, to train high school graduates to become teachers. The use of the term to describe teachers colleges goes back to the 16th century.

In the US, the term has mostly been dropped from the name of the school and they are typically called Teachers Colleges. In Mexico the term is still used and they are mostly located in poor areas and the students are mostly from the indigenous communities.

Students at those schools are typically called "Normalistas".

What seems to be missing from all the confusing and sometimes conflicting stories on the massacre in Iguala and the aftermath is any mention of who these students are, and what their disappearance (I have no doubt they’ve been murdered) means.

These kids were the best and the brightest of very poor families, most of them from indigenous communities. It was a sacrifice on the parts of their families to even send their sons (and most were young men, though a few are women) to lose their labor while the students themselves lived in appalling conditions BY CHOICE. There were not pampered college kids… these were young men and women on a mission.

We are told by the government and the media (following the government spin) that these students were “radicals”,

But if you look at the big picture, they are radical only in the sense that educating the poor is a radical idea, and educating minorities is “radical”.

Turkey would not agree to any U.S. arms transfers to Kurdish fighters who are battling Islamic militants in Syria, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying Sunday, as the extremist group fired more mortar rounds near the Syrian-Turkish border.

Magnificent Ronald and the Founding Fathers of al Qaeda

“These gentlemen are the moral equivalents of America’s founding fathers.” — Ronald Reagan while introducing the Mujahideen leaders to media on the White house lawns (1985). During Reagan’s 8 years in power, the CIA secretly sent billions of dollars of military aid to the mujahedeen in Afghanistan in a US-supported jihad against the Soviet Union. We repeated the insanity with ISIS against Syria.